For nearly four decades, Michaela Strachan has been a constant companion to British TV audiences, radiating warmth, enthusiasm and unflagging energy. From the anarchic Saturday morning chaos of Wacaday and The Wide Awake Club, to the wildlife wonders of The Really Wild Show and Springwatch, Michaela has spent her life sharing joy, nature, and sometimes a rubber chicken with millions. Now, at 59, fresh from skating into the final of Dancing on Ice, she’s reflecting on a career that’s been as wild and varied as the animals she’s helped us understand – and what lies ahead as she enters a new chapter.
From the stage to the savanna
Michaela’s story doesn’t start in the African bush or beside the ocean’s sharks. It starts, unsurprisingly, on stage. With a background in performing arts, she honed her showmanship long before she ever set foot in a wildlife hide. For many years (even now) she remained loyal to her theatrical roots, appearing regularly on stage, a familiar face of pantomime, and feeling the buzz of a live audience.
There’s something magical about theatre,” she says. “Feeling the floorboards, hearing the audience respond, connecting with people in real time – it’s food for the soul.
But it’s television where she’s built her legacy. Not through academic rigour, she insists, but through communication – a skill often overlooked in a world where facts and figures can dominate. And it’s this that recently earned her an honorary doctorate in science from the University of Wolverhampton.
“I wrote back when I was offered it,” she says, “and said, ‘You know I don’t have any academic qualifications, right?’ But they told me, ‘That’s why we’re giving it to you – you’ve brought science to so many people over so many years.’ That meant a lot.” She grins at the memory. “Someone online joked it took me 30 years to get a doctorate – and they weren’t wrong!”
Feeling inadequate, finding worth
While Michaela’s confidence shines now, she’s candid about past insecurities. For years, she felt she lacked credibility in the world of wildlife presenting without a degree to her name.
Twenty years ago, I felt inadequate,” she admits. “Everyone around me had an ‘ology’. But with time, I realised that my strength is making science accessible. I ask the questions that others might be too afraid to ask.
On shows like Springwatch, she’s often surrounded by academics and scientists. “They’ll be in a meeting using all this technical jargon, and I’ll say, ‘I don’t understand this, we need to break it down for the audience.’ And suddenly the penny drops for everyone.” It’s this ability to learn quickly, take complex ideas and turn them into simple language that makes Michaela such an effective presenter. Paired with fact-heavy co-hosts like Chris Packham, she brings balance, warmth and clarity.
“I’m a communicator, a translator, a performer,” she says. “And I’ve finally come to realise: that’s valuable.”
Recently, Michaela found herself in an unusual predicament: in direct competition with herself. While starring in Dancing on Ice on ITV, a documentary she’d presented with Steven Backshall – Ice Age Apocalypse – was airing on Channel 5 at the same time.
“I told the commissioner it was a shame they clashed,” she laughs. “And he said, ‘Oh Michaela, you weren’t the draw. The mammoths were.’ What a putdown! But I actually found it hilarious. The mammoths are extinct – and they’re still getting more attention than me!”
Despite not lifting the Dancing on Ice trophy, Michaela’s time on the show was transformative. “It brought back my love for performing,” she says. “Mark Hanretty, my skating partner, had never done the Bolero before, and it was his dream. Getting him to that point meant more to me than winning.”
And win she nearly did. At 58, she was the oldest contestant ever to reach the final – and one of the most bruised. “I joked on Instagram that the bruises were fading and the hamstrings loosening. But it was an incredible achievement. At my age, people don’t expect you to try something that physical and dangerous. Christopher Dean [ice-skating legend and Dancing on Ice head judge] always says if you’re not falling, you’re not trying!”
On ice, elephants, and inspiration
Her stint on Dancing on Ice wasn’t her first foray into extreme telly. She’s also tackled Celebrity Total Wipeout, Splash!, and All Star Musicals, which all came with their own challenges. “Splash! hurt!” she exclaims. “I had no idea how painful diving would be. Ice dancing was way more fun – and creative.”
That creativity, long sidelined in her more scientific presenting work, is now calling again. “I might start dancing again,” she muses. “Find a new outlet. I miss that expressive side.”
Still, wildlife remains close to her heart – even if it sometimes doesn’t love her back. “I’m allergic to elephants,” she says. “When I filmed Elephant Diaries, I was pregnant, which made it worse. I’d sneeze, my eyes would swell up, I’d feel like I had the flu. But I couldn’t take antihistamines!” She laughs at the absurdity. “We used to joke that I was our elephant detector. If I started sneezing, we knew they were close!”
Her favourites? “Orangutans and sharks,” she says without hesitation. “One’s cuddly, predictable, emotional. The other – well, sharks are just perfect. I’m an advanced diver, and I’ve done loads of shark shows. They fascinate me.
I think how amazing it is to have a creature in the ocean that’s perfectly adapted to what it needs to do. It doesn’t have anything fancy about it. It’s just a killing machine. No frills, just evolution at its finest.”
Life after the limelight
Back in Cape Town, where she lives near Table Mountain, Michaela leads an active, outdoor lifestyle. She hikes, swims, and runs – sometimes straight down the mountain. “I’m not a gym bunny,” she shrugs. “But I love moving. Before I flew to the UK for Dancing on Ice, I sprained my ankle running down the mountain with my partner and the dog – I arrived at the airport on crutches!”
Training for the show meant balancing time between South Africa and the UK, clocking up over 100 hours on and off the ice. “It’s very different to something like Strictly Come Dancing, where you rehearse for hours a day. On Dancing on Ice, you get just two hours a day on the ice. You can’t just pop out into the garden and have a go, can you?! The rest is off-ice, mirror work, mental prep. Mark and I used to practise in front of the mirror: we were so in sync! It was beautiful! Then we’d get on the ice, and it was slightly different!” she laughs.
The mental side is crucial – especially as an older contestant. “I knew I could injure myself more seriously now. After menopause, things don’t heal as well. But I also knew I wanted to do something, to show women over 50 they can still be strong, capable, adventurous.
“I’m so proud that I pushed myself to do it – it made me feel younger and that as I’m getting older, I shouldn’t just sit back and stagnate – there’s plenty more to do, it’s just sometimes you have to be more careful. I wondered whether people might be disappointed that I didn’t manage to lift the Dancing on Ice trophy – especially seeing that a woman hasn’t won in 12 years! But I’ve had the most touching comments, including: “But you did win it: for women.”
I want people – especially women – to see that you don’t have to stop. You can start something new at any time. Let’s keep going forward and take on new challenges and not be too risk-averse!
A new chapter
Michaela’s son recently left for university, making her – in her words – “an empty nester who doesn’t know what that means yet.”
“I want to travel with him, show him the places I’ve been,” she says. “Not tick off new places for myself, but share experiences.” She’s toying with the idea of a live tour, like fellow wildlife presenter Gordon Buchanan. But it would have to be something unique.
“My background is different. I want to do something more creative. Something that reflects all the sides of me – not just the wildlife presenter.”
There’s precedence. Scouting for Girls wrote a song about her – Michaela Strachan, You Broke My Heart (When I Was 12) – and she once turned her book, Really Wild Adventures, into a live poetry show for kids. “Nobody else could have written that book,” she says, laughing. “Because nobody’s done the mad things I’ve done.”
Gratitude, legacy, and a rubber chicken
Television is in flux, Michaela acknowledges. Streaming has changed the landscape; the days of four terrestrial channels are long gone. But she’s grateful for the grounding it gave her – and hopeful about what’s next. “I don’t want to be busy all the time. I want balance. Walks on the mountain, time with friends. But I also want new challenges.”
She may be facing the future, but she hasn’t forgotten the beginning. At her honorary degree ceremony, she memorably brought a rubber chicken on stage. “Everyone else had diplomas and degrees. I held up this chicken and said, ‘This got me my start.’ I sang the ‘Chicken Song’ from Spitting Image at my audition for Wide Awake Club – and got the job. That chicken opened the door to my career. It really shows how unexpected life can be.”
Still wild, still awake
At 59, Michaela Strachan is skating stronger, laughing louder, and facing the future with a renewed energy. She’s an inspiration for anyone wondering what’s next after kids leave home, after careers plateau, after age starts to whisper that maybe you should slow down.
“I want to be a role model,” she says simply. “I want people – especially women – to see that you don’t have to stop. You can start something new at any time. Let’s keep going forward and take on new challenges and not be too risk-averse!”
Michaela’s life, like everyone’s, continues to throw up challenges – like her mother’s diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. But it also demonstrates where some of Michaela’s positive outlook comes from, her own role model: “My mother falls every day with Parkinson’s. She’s been a real inspiration for me because she has the most incredible attitude. She’s always positive. She’s always laughing. She falls, and if she doesn’t hurt herself, she’ll laugh and try and get up, and then we’ll come and help her up. That attitude has been incredibly inspirational for me, to see how my mum has coped with a condition like Parkinson’s.”
Whether on ice, in the wild, or back on stage with a rubber chicken, Michaela Strachan proves that energy, curiosity, and heart don’t age. She may not have won Dancing on Ice, but in the eyes of her fans – and fellow wild adventurers – she’s skating circles around the competition.
